A decline in the doll hobby?

I don't think there is less interest all all. I personally think this interest in resin bjd's is in its infancy. When Doa started there were not many forums for this medium out there, now there are many different forums with large followings. Doa is one of many and lots of these forums are thriving. Doll collecting has been around forever and there are lots of people collecting a myriad of different kinds of dolls with the bjd's only being one form. What I'm seeing are lots of doll collectors who collected only antique or vintage dolls coming over to the bjd's, an older population of people who aren't going to be posting as much on the forums nor selling as much because they are in collection mode, trying to figure out what kind of doll to collect. I also think that people aren't buying as many of the cheaper dolls and are buying that one good doll and personalizing them with clothing and accessories. Jillian

 

It is hard for me to post I read often, but I find I really have nothing to add or say. I can comment hear tho that lately I have needed more time tpo sew so there i less time to read, maybe for other they got busy, so less time to post?

 

Hum, I feel this is the healthiest BJD forum out there. I think people keep on posting as always. I have never left the typical "is this wrong?" kind of topics to affect me because I never go to the debate/general discussion subforums (for obvious reasons). I enjoy other parts of the forum though.

I've seen however a decline in other forums though. Less and less traffic for several reasons: economy, people having other interests, whatever. So I always come back to DoA because there is nothing more depressing than a dead forum.

In my particular case, I consider myself being as active as ever, even though I decided to stop buying new dolls. There is always something new I can do and share with what I have.

 

I agree with you Carmen with a lot of what you are saying. I too have slowed down with my doll buying but still enjoy visiting the different forums and taking part in discussions.. I think what's missing for some people is the enthusiasm once felt, such as when you were a new collector and discovering all the new dolls out there.

There are thriving forums out there with strong followers. I find myself recently going to Doa as I want to learn more and. branch out and feel this is probably the best place for me right now in my collecting.

 

i think if there is any decline its money based, i mean really some are just so expensive its ridiculous, i mean i know its a lot of work to make one but i still feel dolls are way overpriced.

that and the bad economy play a part, i think we should enjoy the dolls we have and not constantly be bitten by a bug to buy more all the time, i certainly dont feel like there is a decline in discussion though, it seems to have remained fairly healthy

 

Hmm... I think DOA can sometimes be slow because it's not like a normal forum, where necroing threads would be looked down on, so new topics are always being created. Whereas on DOA no repeat threads are allowed. So I guess once a topic has been made, and you've replied once... You can't really contribute to the discussion anymore.

Not to mention now that they've gotten rid of 'age BJD owners' threads are gone, there is less socialising here.

I don't think the hobby is declining, I just think that it's the nature of DOA as a forum.

 

I agree, I think that the topics are more geared toward sharing tips and experience and knowledge within the hobby, as compared to socializing.

 

Oh I hope not... I've only just joined the hobby